Historic Macon

In 1852 Alexander became president of
the Manufacturers’ Bank and was a major
investor in the new Macon Gas Light Company.
In 1857 he headed a company which developed
a new rail line from Macon to Brunswick.
During the War Between the States Alexander
was part of a group that formed the Empire State
Iron and Coal Mining Works, an industry to aid
the war effort. As president of the company,
Alexander hoped to make Macon an industrial
center, but the effects of the war ruined
the project.
Elam Alexander died unexpectedly in March
of 1863 and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery.
At his death the newspaper noted Alexander
always regretted his lack of formal education,
and that he “gave to no organized charities but
gave freely to the needy from his own hand.”
After his death Alexander continued to give.
His will provided money to create a free school
for Macon’s poor. In 1865 the value of
Alexander’s fund was about fifty thousand
dollars. By 1870 its value had risen to one
hundred thousand dollars. The Alexander Free
School opened in the house Alexander built for
himself. The school was separate from public
schools until early in the Twentieth Century
when courts ruled that the Board of Education
could act as agent for Alexander’s fund. That
relationship continues.
Elam Alexander’s gift to education and the
building he created became his lasting memorials
in Macon.
Another early Macon citizen who often
joined Alexander in projects to benefit the town
was Jerry Cowles. He was born in Connecticut
in 1802. At sixteen he ran away from his family’s
farm and traveled to Eatonton, Georgia. He
became a partner in a business selling cotton
gins, iron and coal.
In Milledgeville in 1829 Cowles married
Sarah Caroline Williams, daughter of Georgia’s
Lieutenant-Governor. Before he moved his wife
and infant daughter to Macon in 1830, Cowles
❖
In the nineteenth century, visitors to
Central City Park dressed more
formally for outings than modern-day
picnickers and concert-goers.
Chapter II ✦ 19